T H U R S D A Y FEBRUARY 5, 2004
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 7
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
No plan yet for student parking next semester BY MICHAEL RUDERMAN
pus that the building is here to serve religious Jews,” said Benj Kamm ’06, who is a member of an Israeli dance group and involved in Hillel leadership. “I think one of the major purposes of this space is that all students, whether or not they are Jewish, can do what they love here.” The new center, which opened its doors last night for student tours, is both beautiful and functional. Occupying 25,000 square feet — more than three times the size of its predecessor — the new center offers a number of renovated meeting and study spaces, while still preserving its historical features. Included among those spaces are several large conference rooms; a social hall that can comfortably accommodate up to 200
Faced with continuing parking spot shortages and pressure from College Hill residents and Providence officials, the University will not allow students to park overnight at the stadium next fall and could revoke other student spots. In addition to about 150 parking spots at the stadium, another 500 student spaces at the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, the Power Street garage and other campus lots might be revoked, said Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter. The University has not yet determined how to compensate for lost student parking spaces, he said. The Ad Hoc Transportation Management Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the senior administration this semester about how to move undergraduate parking from current lots on College Hill to other locations, Hunter said. Providence officials have pressed the University to develop an effective traffic management plan that deals with congestion problems. Decreasing traffic caused partly by student cars would help accomplish this plan, but Brown needs city cooperation in order to deal fully with congestion issues, Hunter said. Members of the committee have contacted Providence officials to discuss the parking situation, he said. “The administration wants the ad hoc committee to confer with the city first and then develop the recommendations further. We need to know what the city’s going to do,” Hunter said. “You can’t make policies and recommendations in a vacuum,” he said. Discussions with city officials are expected to begin in the near future, Hunter said. Once the committee has made its preliminary recommendations, the administration will review them. At that point,
see HILLEL, page 4
see PARKING, page 4
Nick Neely / Herald
From left to right, Christina Hanson '04, Edeeb Rahman '04, Rachel Karin '04, Andie Fein '04 and Stephanie Harris '04 enjoy cake and company in the lobby of Hillel during Wednesday night's open house to showcase the renovated structure.
UCS brings newspapers back to dining halls
Renovated Hillel opens doors for open house
BY ZACH BARTER
BY MELANIE WOLFGANG
Brown students can once again get a dose of politics and current events along with their morning eggs and pancakes. After a trial arrangement last year, the Undergraduate Council of Students has arranged to make copies of the New York Times and Boston Globe available in the Sharpe Refectory and Verney-Woolley Dining Hall. The program provides 80 copies of each paper for the Ratty and 40 for the VDub Mondays through Fridays, said Ari Savitzky ’06, chairman of the UCS Campus Life Committee. The program — run through the papers’ education divisions — will cost close to $8,000 this semester, Savitzky said. UCS will pay half the bill, and the administration will pay the other half. The current contract covers only this semester, but UCS hopes to make it a permanent program, Savitzky said. “The idea from the outset was to get the papers back for this semester, and then work from there to extend it into the future,” he said. Savitzky said he hopes the papers spark discussions at meals and allow students to keep abreast of current events. Sections of the Times floated around the Main Green Wednesday afternoon, but Brown University Dining Services employees said all paper materials left in the dining halls are recycled. Leafing through a copy of the Globe during lunch in the V-Dub, Peter Wright ’07 said he was happy the papers are available. “It’s harder to get news when you’re in classes a lot,” Wright said. “But now it’s in front of you and accessible. And it’s free.”
Students who remember cramped services and events at Brown Hillel before it closed for renovations in 2002 will be awed by the changes to the center for Jewish life on campus. The renovated, 25,000-square-foot building was showcased Wednesday during the first open house since the building’s completion. The new Glenn and Darcy Weiner Hillel Center provides ample space for the religious, social and academic spheres of student life — all under one roof. With the building’s expansion, what was once almost exclusively seen as a haven for Jewish students can now serve students across a broad range of groups, cultures and concentrations. “There is often the perception on cam-
UCS discusses ongoing projects BY KRISTA HACHEY
At the Undergraduate Council of Students’ first meeting of the semester Wednesday. members reported progress on numerous fronts, including a new online textbook exchange on the Brown Daily Jolt, links to course syllabi on the Brown Online Course Announcement and increased school support for athletics. President Rahim Kurji ’05 expressed hope for a rigorous and productive semester. “It’s going to be fast-paced,” he said. “Get ready for it.” Kate Wolford RUE ’06, project director for campus life and student servic-
es, briefed the representatives on the new online campus calendar. “The public calendar is accessible to everyone — members of the Providence community can see it, alums in Hong Kong can read it, alums in San Francisco can read it,” Wolford said. “When parents or friends come to visit, it will be easier to plan ahead.” Anyone who is part of the Brown community can add events to the calendar, Wolford said. While submissions to the calendar must be approved by the webmaster, Wolford said the goal of the approval
I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, F E B RUA RY 5 , 2 0 0 4 15 Westminster St. project will provide additional student spaces risd, page 3
First-year advising program helps students deal with decisions, stress risd, page 3
Eli Swiney ’04 says Democrats have much to learn from Dean’s campaign column, page 11
system “is not to say ‘this event can happen and this one can’t.’” So far, she said, the only submissions that were not approved listed incorrect dates. Working with David Gornel ’06 of the Daily Jolt, representatives Emily Blatter ’07 and Doreen Benary ’07 implemented the online textbook exchange program last Friday. As of yesterday, 190 advertisements for used textbooks had been posted. “All we had to do was tell David what we had in mind, and the site was up in a flash,” Blatter said. see UCS, page 6
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Wrestling sees mixed results in matches, despite strong individual performances sports, page 12
Men’s squash team, plagued by injuries, loses to Dartmouth Sunday sports, page 12
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